


The Path: A Promise Kept

by NikaylaSarae



Series: The Path [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Halloween, Reader fic - Freeform, Remus being Remus, Second person POV, Sequel to The Path: A Tale of Trick or Treating, Tentacles, Trick or Treating...kinda, halloween antics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:00:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27318139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NikaylaSarae/pseuds/NikaylaSarae
Summary: Trick or Treating may be cancelled this year, but that won’t stop you from keeping a Promise.
Series: The Path [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1994398
Comments: 6
Kudos: 10





	The Path: A Promise Kept

**Author's Note:**

> Sequel to The Path: A Tale of Trick or Treating
> 
> Cross-posted to my Tumblr account @stillebesat.

The back door squeaks as you pull it open, the noise echoing eerily throughout the darkened kitchen of your home.

You freeze, the frantic thumping of your heart making it difficult to tell if your parents had heard you or not as you check over your shoulder for their tell-tale silhouettes appearing in the doorway.

You slowly exhale when the kitchen remains empty, automatically reaching up to your mask to make sure that it’s covering your nose and mouse before your fingers drift down to stroke your dragon’s head.

“You ready?” You whisper to Spark as you slip a quarter into your pocket out of habit before pulling your hood over your head to hide her from view. 

She croons in response nuzzling against your cheek, her small claws gently digging into your shoulder as her tail wraps around your neck.

You smile, huffing a soft laugh as you grab the case of Apple Juice that you’d moved by the back door earlier in the day while your parents had been distracted hiding stashes of Halloween candy outside for you to go find after a Haunted Mansion themed dinner.

“Ready to keep a promise?” You ask as you slip outside, careful to not let the back door slam before quickly taking off down the street, the case of apple juice held securely in your arms. 

Despite Spark’s presence, the tightness in your chest doesn’t ease until you’re at the end of the block, well out of sight and ear shot of your parents.

Hopefully they wouldn’t realize you’d ever gone out. 

After all...this was the first time you’d done this. Snuck out. And if they did discover your absence, at least you could tell them that you hadn’t disobeyed them in order to go Trick or Treating. 

Even if the city hadn’t officially cancelled it this year...your usual candy haul probably would have been much slimmer with how careful most of your neighbors were being. 

An issue that could have been far worse, considering you now had a dragon to feed, if your parents hadn’t been well aware of your lofty goals to gain as much candy as possible every Halloween. They’d gone all out and done their best to provide you with a large haul of candy and chocolate despite their obvious reluctance to be the sole providers of so much sugar in a single night. 

You smile fondly as you turn another corner. It wasn’t as much candy as you’d gotten last year, but the fact that they’d been willing to hide as much as they had around your home and outside in the yard to find was amazing.

Plus...it helped that the pandemic hadn’t stopped your neighbors, specifically those who had been on The Path last year, from ‘helping’ you out on your candy hunt by leaving various bags of goodies and encouraging notes, or in Logan’s case some more little puzzle toys, for you to find along your fence line. 

It had been a relief really to know that The Path hadn’t forsaken you, the apparent Chosen One, this year when you couldn’t actively go out and seek it or the horde of candy you needed for your little dragon because the world had to go crazy.

With a soft sigh, you glance to Patton’s house, decked out in a Frog theme of all things this year as you pass, the porch light turned off to indicate no candy would be handed out by him tonight.

It sucked really. To not be out here officially trick or treating. Officially hunting for a new Path to wander down. Especially when everyone on The Path last year had hinted to you in your sparse encounters with them that something great was waiting for you this Halloween.

You’d spent months and months planning and imagining just what could be  _ greater  _ than rescuing Thomas. 

But thanks to the Pandemic...you wouldn’t know. Not this year. Not with Halloween all but cancelled.

You shiver, grateful for Spark’s soft cooing as you move through the quiet neighborhoods empty of trick or treaters despite you being able to see buckets of candy hanging from people’s gates or placed prominently on their porches for those who chose to take a risk and venture out in the dark to get more candy.

Though as far as you could tell, with the exception of Dr. Picani’s charity box placed at the edge of his property for you to place your quarter in with a soft clink, no one else who’d been on The Path, despite their decorated homes; Virgil with his virus themed Gravestones, Remy with his musical flashing lights, even Roman in his castle themed home... had their porch lights on nor any buckets of candy visible. 

Spark shifts on your shoulder, poking her head out from your hood to flicker rainbow flames in the direction of Thomas’s home, the gates still covered with ivy, but no longer looking as overgrown as it had in years past. 

“Good thing we rescued him last year, huh, Spark?” You say, peering through the vines to the restored house beyond, grinning at her cheerful chirp in response. It was unfortunate you couldn’t find out what sort of candy Thomas would give out, but waiting another year to get his candy was far better than if you hadn’t solved the riddle of The Path and knew you wouldn’t be able to do so this year either. 

No, all you had to worry about was--

Despite it all, your heart skips a beat as you stop at the end of The Duke’s darkened driveway, the place somehow appearing even more creepy with no screams ringing in your ears this time. The Duke...being quiet? It was...you draw in a shaky breath, shifting the case of apple juice in your arms. Even after dealing more directly with Remus last year...you still had no idea what to expect from him. 

Would he even remember his half of the deal? 

You tilt your head, peering into the darkness. Was he even home? The place was...quiet. Too quiet. 

Even Spark seemed to sense something was off as she hissed, diving back into the depths of your hood, pressing her warm scales against the back of your neck as you take the first hesitant step up towards his house. 

It was like...like Remus hadn’t even tried to decorate this year. No hanging skeletons, no creepy tentacles, no bright glowing eyes among the bushes, and definitely no one screaming. It was--odd. 

You hadn’t thought, despite the pandemic, that his home would be any different than any other year. If anything you’d believed that Remus would go more extreme this time after all the crazy stuff that had happened this year. 

To see it looking so  _ unHalloweeny  _ was beyond weird. 

“It’s okay. It’s okay.” You mumble as you approach the porch, head on a swivel, waiting for Remus to jump out. To do  _ something.  _

He  _ had  _ to do something. All this--this  _ nothing  _ was doing a far better job of freaking you out than last year with the creepy headless act. 

You carefully place the case of apple juice on the porch before reaching up, covering your finger with your sleeve, to press the doorbell, your heart fluttering at the far too normal sounding chimes that echoed inside as you retreat back down the steps so you’d be six feet away from the Duke when he opened the door.

_ If  _ he opened the door. 

Spark chirped, poking her head out from under your hood, her head pressing up under your chin as you both watch the entrance. Waiting for  _ something  _ to happen.

But nothing was happening.

Maybe...maybe he hadn’t heard you? 

Cautiously, ears straining for the sound of locks being undone, hinges creaking,  _ anything  _ to indicate the door was about to open, you approach the doorbell and press it again. 

You’d just assumed that he would be home. That this year would be like all the other Halloweens for him...but what if--You glance back to the case of apple juice before pressing the doorbell again.

What if with the completion of the path, Remus had moved elsewhere? You hadn’t exactly had the opportunity to check since his home was outside your normal everyday routes. Out of everyone on The Path, Remus had been the only one you hadn’t encountered in public. He hadn’t even left a gift for you to find at home! 

You ring the doorbell for a fourth time. No gift, and now an empty home. Did that mean...had...was he---

_ “You came?” _

Despite yourself you shriek as a voice whispers in your ear and you whirl, Spark’s claws digging into your shoulder as she screeches along with you, to see Remus standing at the bottom of the stairs.

At least...you think it’s Remus. 

You flinch as Spark takes flight from your shoulder, screeching as she circles high overhead, but you find you can’t stop staring at the figure below you.

“Remus?” You ask, not at all certain that this person was the same guy known to make grown men cry. 

Sure, last year was the first year you’d physically  _ seen  _ him in his costume, but you’d heard from your classmates all the crazy getups he’d been spotted in all those other years.

The man standing below you looked like, well besides the strong resemblance to Roman sans his prince costume, he looked like a  _ normal  _ guy. No creepy costume in sight.

Remus tilted his head at an angle that made you wince, his dark eyes glittering above a silvery mask with a curling moustache design on it as he fiddled with the tassels of the worn hoodie he wore. “You came.” He repeated softly, a note of wonder in his voice. “All was cancelled and yet  _ you came. _ ”

You clear your throat, conscious that you had your back pressed against his door, blocking his way back inside. “I--of course.” You push back your hood so he could better see your face in the moonlight. “I promised didn’t I?” You say gesturing to the case of apple juice between you.

His breath catches as he jerks as if to move forward but stops himself just as quickly, eyes flickering from you to the case as one hand stretches out towards it. “ _ Appley Juice? _ ” He asks, a longing in his voice that had your heart skipping a beat. 

You nod, relaxing a hair as Spark lands on your shoulder, her wings brushing against your mask. “Just because I can’t Trick or Treat this year doesn’t stop me from bringing you some.” You say, cautiously stepping forward, watching as Remus takes a belated step back, his attention fully focused on the juice.

You hadn’t been sure if Remus would follow social distancing guidelines after all the stories you’d heard of how he’d terrorized other trick or treaters in the neighborhood through the years. It was good to see that he had some restraint. 

Though you weren’t willing to test just  _ how much  _ restraint he had. You edge down the steps and circle wide to give Remus a clear path to his prize. 

He’s grown tense, like a bloodhound waiting to be released on the hunt, his eyes hardly straying from the case on his porch, only waiting for you to be fully out of the way before he springs forward, darting up the steps in a blink of an eye to grab the apple juice.

He freezes again, pale hands stark like a skeleton’s around the edge of the package. “But--this--” He visibly shakes himself, half turning to you, his attention still half divided. “This isn’t  _ half  _ a case.  _ We  _ agreed on HALF and a scream! Not a-- a---”

“A full case?” You finish, stroking Spark’s back for confidence. It was true, you’d agreed on only half a case, but that had been before the whole pandemic happened. Since you didn’t have to worry about juggling apple juice and your haul of candy tonight, you’d gone with the full case instead.

He nods as he pulls a single bottle of juice into his arms, cradling it like a baby as he turns completely to you. “All mine?” He demands looking up, an eerie light to his eyes as between one blink and the next his home takes on an eerie green glow. “No tricks? All treat?” 

Spark flares a small rainbow flame in his direction as you take another step backwards, watching from the corner of your eye how fog now seemed to be seeping through the windows to curl around the edges of the home. “All treat.” You confirm, glad that you’d managed to keep your promise and get Remus his juice. “It’s all yours.”

You jump as lightning cracks overhead, the house creaking alarmingly as Remus loudly cackles, easily twisting the cap off the bottle he held in his arms. 

After last year’s performance with the drink where he dumped it down the throat of his headless costume, you’re not at all surprised to see the Duke do the same thing now, lifting the bottle over his head to send juice raining down on his hair in a waterfall of liquid that shouldn’t have been possible from such a small bottle.

A waterfall that seemed to be washing away the regular clothes that Remus had been wearing, exposing instead a salt encrusted pirate’s outfit and tentacle beard that made him look just like Davy Jones from that Pirates of the Caribbean movie. 

You jump, mouth dropping open as the house warps in your vision, twisting in and out of focus until it looks more like you’re staring at the haunting green glow of the side of a sunken ship instead of a home. 

_ That...HOW?! _

Remus lowers the bottle smacking his lips, the tentacles of his beard twisting in coiling as he stamps a boot on the deck of the ship. “ _ Appley Juice. _ ” He says, twisting the bottle in his fingers elongating into a cutlass that he shoves into his belt. 

Considering you had a miniature dragon currently sitting on your shoulders and you’d seen Thomas appear out of a beam of light with fairy wings...you really shouldn’t be so surprised at--at _THIS_ ghostly pirate scene that had emerged before your very eyes. But--you close your mouth with a click, running your hand over your eyes to establish that you were seeing what you thought you were seeing. “How?!” You breathe.

He cackles again, wagging his finger at you, a handful of the tentacles on his beard mimicking the gesture as he places one boot on top of the case. “Appley Juice!” he repeats like it explains everything.

It really didn’t. 

“Okay…” You shake your head, pulling back on your hood. Really you shouldn’t have expected a straight answer from the Duke, but it was...you wouldn’t say  _ gratifying  _ but it was good to see Remus in a pirate’s costume now instead of normal clothes. “Well---I really should be heading back.” You take a step backwards to show him you really were leaving. There was no reason to push your luck further than you already had with your parents. “Happy Hallo--”

“Wait.” 

You cut off as Remus jumps off the porch, cutlass directed to your throat as he stares you down with neon green eyes. “Turn and Turn about.” He says as Spark hisses in your ear, sending a flicker of rainbow flame at the Pirate as he reached with his free hand under the mass of tentacles. “A delicious sticky treasure for me. A head start for you.” 

A head start? You tilt your head, conscious of Spark mimicking the gesture with you, unable to look away from him as he holds out his hand to you. “I--I thought there was no Path this year.” You say uncertainly as Remus opens his hand to reveal a---you squint as the thing in his palm lifts up, floating through the air towards you like a shimmering jellyfish. Only it wasn’t a jellyfish, it didn’t have the right shape. No, it looked more like a--

You lift a hand up to the mini hovering octopus-like creature, only to shriek, jerking back as its tentacles suddenly snap out, wrapping around your wrist. 

Spark shrieks with you, her neck stretching out as she sends a beam of red hot fire at the thing, her claws digging deep into your shoulder to give her better stability as she aims for it.

The octopus freezes on your wrist, it’s body taking on a metallic quality under Spark’s heat treatment treatment. 

The Duke laughs as you dig your fingers underneath the creature, but no matter how much you tug, the octopus remains in place, looking for the world like any other octopus themed bracelet except you swear you can still feel a residual heat coming off of it. 

“Remus!” You cry, glaring up at him. “What did you do!” This wasn’t like getting Spark at all. The Dragon Keeper had at least given you  _ instructions  _ on how to care for her! 

He taps the side of his nose, his tentacles quivering in silent laughter. “Remember.” He says as the fog swirls up around him and his glowing green ship. “Until the waves recede from your sight. Don’t get it wet!” 

In the blink of an eye he vanishes from sight _ ,  _ leaving you standing with your mouth half open, fingers frozen on your new accessory in front of his darkened home.


End file.
